ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager/Alt. Governor Doug Armstrong announced the club has agreed to terms on a seven-year deal for defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

“We’re excited to have Alex in the fold for the next seven years as he will continue be a key component of our franchise,” said Armstrong. “He is an elite defenseman in this league and will be for years to come.”

Pietrangelo, 23, dressed in 47 games last season, leading the Blues’ defense with 24 points (five goals and 19 assists) while ranking 13th in ice time per game (25:06) among all National Hockey League (NHL) defensemen.

In the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Pietrangelo posted two points (one goal, one assist) in six games while tying for second on the club with a +2 rating.

Since his first full season in 2010, Pietrangelo is tied for sixth among all defensemen in points (118), ranks 10th in goals (28), tied for ninth in assists (90) and slots 15th in plus/minus (+34) while he became the youngest defenseman in Blues history to record back-to-back 40-plus point seasons in 2010-11 (43) and 2011-12 (51).

In addition, in 2011-12, Pietrangelo joined Al MacInnis as the only defensemen in club history to record six game-winning goals and six power play goals in the same season.

Overall, the 6-foot-3, 201-pound defenseman has appeared five NHL seasons, accumulating 121 points (29 goals and 92 assists) to go along with 73 penalty minutes in 224 career regular season games while tallying seven points (one goal, six assists) in 14 career postseason games.

Internationally, the King City, Ontario native has represented Canada on three occasions, including winning the Gold Medal at the 2009 World Juniors and the Silver Medal at the 2010 World Juniors while most recently appearing in seven games at the 2011 World Championships. Pietrangelo recently participated in Team Canada’s 2014 Olympic Orientation Camp in preparation for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Pietrangelo was originally drafted by the Blues in the first round, 4th overall, of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

I like this deal too. It's not ideal, but I think it's fair. If he lives up to the hype, this could be a bargain. If he doesn't, he'll be overpaid, but not by a ton. Even in a down year, he was still good last year.

Very pleased with this deal. The amount is okey, I understand the point that he hasn't really earned that kind of money just yet, but on the other hand his upside is great and if he develops the way we all hope he will, then that 7-year contract will be a great deal for the Blues. Plus, that was so unexpected just a couple of days after Army said the talks had broken down! Returning home after a nice meal downtown and a bottle of wine, I couldn't have recieved better news! All in all, I'm just happy we can all focus on the actual game of hockey now! LGB!

If he lives up to the hype, this will be a pretty good deal. If he fails to live up to the hype and turns into Eric Johnson...ugh.

I feel the Blues are gambling a bit with him. It's not a huge contract, but it's more than he deserves at this point and it's a lot of money for the Blues. I was hoping he'd sign in the $5 million per range (wishful thinking)...but whatever...I hope it works out. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping last year was just a hiccup and not a sign of things to come with him.

I do remember a bunch of Wings fans swearing he'd be getting $10 million per season...which is just stupid...but consider the source there.

I am glad it is done. Yes it is a lot of money and it is money based on potential. However, it is the market rate and you know that this type of figure was inevitable based on what Shatty received from the Blues. While I do not think Petro was light years ahead of Shatty last season, there is obviously a pecking order. Even if you ignore the current market rate for top end young defensemen, once Shatty received his deal, anything below six million (whether Petro “earned it” or not) was not going to happen.

Let’s hope that Petro earns every bit of the contract, becomes a superstar, marries a St. Louis girl, and has every desire to re-up with the Blues when he turns 30.

Not bad for The Blues. Pietrangelo was holding out for about $6.75 million per year for 8 years, but that was over The Blues' limit, so they settled for a price The Blues could live with, but with only 7 years, instead of 8. Armstrong has done very well. Who'd have guessed that The Blues would ever again spend up to the Cap? They've only been able to do it with Armstrong holding a hard line on contracts, and selling off their AHL franchise. It will pay off in the end, to stay competitive, go deep into the playoffs and get some of that needed salary-free playoff revenue, and guarantee that their building will always be filled with Blues' paraphenalia-buying fans.

This is the right way to go, rather than being a non-competitive, low-budget team.

Not bad for The Blues. Pietrangelo was holding out for about $6.75 million per year for 8 years, but that was over The Blues' limit, so they settled for a price The Blues could live with, but with only 7 years, instead of 8. Armstrong has done very well. Who'd have guessed that The Blues would ever again spend up to the Cap? They've only been able to do it with Armstrong holding a hard line on contracts, and selling off their AHL franchise. It will pay off in the end, to stay competitive, go deep into the playoffs and get some of that needed salary-free playoff revenue, and guarantee that their building will always be filled with Blues' paraphenalia-buying fans.

This is the right way to go, rather than being a non-competitive, low-budget team.

I agree. And, if they can make a few deep playoff runs, that should help bring in corporate sponsors as well.

You can refuse to pay market price but as they say: pay peanuts, get monkeys. This is a very good deal for a dman of his quality. Good signing.

It most certainly is a lot of money for this franchise.It's the biggest contract a Blues player has ever received.I understand you have to pay good money to retain good players, but what I don't like is having to pay good player money to a player who isn't quite there yet and hoping he gets better and validates the contract in a few years.He may very well pan out to be a Norris caliber d-man that we signed to a great contract...but he also may pan out to be a disappointment that we are stuck with for the next 7 years and his contract handcuffs the team. It could go either way.The length of the contract is a bit of a gamble. I have faith he will consistently be a great player...but his performance last year has me a bit worried. I don't think anyone was happy with how he played last year.

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